The Taraba state government has stated its rejection of the federal government’s proposed cattle colony as a solution to the incessant herdsmen-farmers clash.
This was disclosed on yesterday by the Taraba state commissioner of justice and attorney-general, Yusufu Akirikwen.
He said the state government has already enacted a law for the establishment of ranches which would come into effect from Jan 24.
“The truth of the matter is that the idea of cattle colony is still not very clear for most Nigerians.
“Where would the federal government get land for cattle colonies?
“Would they sit there in Abuja and acquire land across the states of the federation for cattle colonies?
“We have enacted a law for ranching here in Taraba, but we are not acquiring land for people, herdsmen and cattle owners are going to buy land and do their ranching business,’’ he said.
He called on the federal government to support the state in implementing the law by providing adequate security as Taraba looks to institute the global best practices when it comes to cattle rearing.
This comes on the heels of the declaration by the Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, that his state does not have the land to set aside for use as a cattle colony.
Coming off a closed-door meeting with the president, Ortom, whose state had late in 2017 enacted and passed the Anti-Open Grazing Law, said he does not even know what cattle colony means.
“So, for us in Benue state, we don’t have 10,000 hectares, they are looking for 5,000 hectares. We have no land for that kind of a thing to take place. So, people are free. Other states have the land but we in Benue state, we don’t have and that was what led to us enacting the anti-grazing law,” he said.
